Written Answers Monday 8 August 2005

Scottish Executive

Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition is of "public interest" used by the Procurator Fiscal when using that criterion to determine whether or not to take proceedings in a criminal case.

Elish Angiolini QC: The factors relevant to a Procurator Fiscal’s assessment of the public interest are described in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Prosecution Code , at Section 6 (page 8) "Public Interest Considerations". A copy of the Code is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 37201).

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of NHS Quality Scotland’s report, The organisation of troponin testing services in acute coronary syndromes .

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS Scotland should take account of advice and evidence from NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and ensure that recommended drugs and treatment are made available to meet clinical need.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland has recently commissioned the Health Economics Research Unit to assess the impact of three health technology assessments, one of which is troponin testing. Work is under way and a report is expected in December.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13887 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 February 2005, what the total value was of discounts given on sales of properties through the right to buy in each year since 1979 in each local authority area, expressed in 2004 prices on the basis of changes in the retail price index between the purchase date and 2004 as in the answer to the question.

Malcolm Chisholm: The table produced for this analysis is too large to be included in this response and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37171). For this analysis, the amount of discount was converted to 2004 prices on the basis of changes in the retail price index between the purchase date and 2004. Figures are in thousands of pounds.

Local Government Finance

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing legislation to enable local authority pension fund holders to consider non-fiduciary and ethical matters in deciding on investment policies.

George Lyon: The provisions of the existing legislation are considered to be sufficient to require administering authorities to address non fiduciary and ethical matters and there are no plans at this time to introduce changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (Management and Investment of Funds) (Scotland) Regulations 1998 (as amended).

Olympic Games

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a full economic cost-benefit analysis for Scotland of the successful London Olympic bid.

Patricia Ferguson: No. The Scottish Executive will, however, aim to maximise the potential business, tourism, sporting and cultural benefits to Scotland which will arise from London hosting the Olympics; and will monitor and evaluate the economic impacts on Scotland of such an important event.

Sport

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it supported the Homeless World Cup.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive was an official sponsor of the Homeless World Cup, contributing £30,000 towards the cost of hosting the tournament and hosting the opening reception at Meadowbank Stadium on 19 July. The Executive also provided resources for the tournament’s media centre and was represented on the steering group of sponsorship partners. I also participated in the media launch of the tournament in February and the opening reception, closing ceremony and attended several matches, as did a number of my officials.

Wind Farms

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to issue any revised guidlines on the location and role of on-shore wind farms in the context of its renewable energy policies.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has commenced a review of National Planning Policy Guideline 6: Renewable Energy.  This review, which will be underpinned by strategic environmental assessment, will consider the need for a national spatial framework and/or regional targets for on-shore wind farms. It is hoped to issue revised policies for public consultation early in 2006.

  The role of on-shore wind farms in contributing to the Executive’s renewable energy targets was one of a number of issues considered by the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) in Realising the 2020 Target - Future Generation Group Report 2005, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36765). FREDS confirmed that the development of onshore wind has an important role to play in providing the economic justification for the development of Scotland’s grid, which in turn could also substantially benefit other renewable technologies which will come on stream over a longer time. The Executive has accepted the findings of this report.